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Canadiens at Senators preview

Montreal tries for home-and-home sweep of Ottawa, which is seeking fourth win in five games

by
Callum Fraser
/ NHL.com Correspondent

CANADIENS (13-10-5) at SENATORS (12-13-3)

7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Game

The Montreal Canadiens will try to sweep their home-and-home series against the Ottawa Senators when they play at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

The Canadiens won 5-2 at Bell Centre on Tuesday. Montreal is 2-1-0 in its past three games after going 0-3-2 in its previous five. Goalie Carey Price will make his sixth straight start for Montreal; he is 2-1-0 with a .914 save percentage in his past three games.

The Senators are 3-1-0 in their past four games after losing four straight. Goaltender Craig Anderson will start for Ottawa; he has played in 25 of 28 games this season.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin has one goal and four assists during a three-game point streak.

They said it

"We've kind of had a little bit of a rivalry with this team for a little while now. They're fun games to be in. I think both sides enjoy the challenge; it's competitive. The atmosphere is fun to be around." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher

"I didn't feel like I was in front of the net screening [Price] too often [on Tuesday]. I'll make sure I get to the dirty areas tonight." -- Senators forward Brady Tkachuk

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw

Paul Byron -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Artturi Lehkonen

Kenny Agostino -- Michael Chaput -- Matthew Peca

Brett Kulak -- Shea Weber

David Schlemko -- Jeff Petry

Mike Reilly -- Jordie Benn

Carey Price

Antti Niemi

Scratched:Xavier Ouellet, Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers

Injured:Noah Juulsen (facial fracture), Joel Armia (lower body)

Senators projected lineup

Ryan Dzingel -- Matt Duchene -- Drake Batherson

Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Mark Stone

Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Bobby Ryan

Tom Pyatt -- Zack Smith -- Magnus Paajarvi

Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo

Ben Harpur -- Cody Ceci

Maxime Lajoie -- Christian Jaros

Craig Anderson

Mike McKenna

Scratched:Max McCormick, Justin Falk

Injured: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Achilles), Mark Borowiecki (upper body)

Status report

Juulsen was cleared for contact on Wednesday for the first time since taking a puck to the face on Nov. 19. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien said there "might" be a change to his lineup but wouldn't say what it could be. … Lajoie's status will be determined by the medical staff and coaches after the warmup; if he can't play, Falk will take his spot on the third pairing. … Borowiecki will miss his seventh straight game.

Stat pack

Montreal has scored two goals or fewer in five of its past seven games. … Ottawa has scored at least four goals in six of its past nine games.

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